Desire of the Everlasting Hills Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

1. Talk about the author's choice in structuring the book—how he began generally, filling in essential background and then gave us various portraits of Jesus. How does this winnowing process help you understand Jesus?


2. Do you feel more drawn to one or the other of the versions of Jesus? Does the Jesus who Mark or Matthew knew ring truer to you than the other portraits of Jesus? What purposes do the non-eyewitness portraits of Jesus (Paul's, Luke's, John's) serve?


3. Discuss the state of languages—Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic—in the world around the time of Jesus. What role did language play in spreading or slowing the word of Jesus?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Anchor Books. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.